Arrivederci, AmericaOne

By Suzanne McFadden

The United States spread themselves too thin in their attempt to win back "their" cup, the America's Cup.

A melancholy Paul Cayard knew only too well that he was creating history when his AmericaOne crew lost their exhausting fight with Prada in the shootout on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday.

It became the first time in the rich history of the Auld Mug that the United States will not be there at the bitter end.

It is also the first time in eight years that will be no colourful Cayard in the match - he was challenger in 1992 and defender in 1995.

After a long, soul-searching tow back to shore, Cayard said that this time the United States had had too many syndicates for their own good.

"I've been conscious of the fact that we were America's last hope, and I'm sorry. But we did our best at AmericaOne," he said.

"The problem was it was too diluted. With five or six teams from the US, it was not the best way to put our best foot forward."

Throughout this Louis Vuitton Cup, Cayard has bemoaned the fact that he did not have as much money or time as Prada did.

"It's not an insignificant coincidence the amount of money and time spent on these campaigns," he said. "Prada was the model campaign, and we did a damn good job with the time and money we had."

But Cayard admitted that he had taken on too much as both syndicate head and boat skipper for the first time.

"For me personally I was not as good a sailor in this Cup as I was in '92 or '95. I haven't spent as much time I could have done on the sailing side to prepare for this," he said.

Yesterday, in the critical last race, the AmericaOne team were simply outsailed by the Italians.

Prada had an edge crossing the start-line which stretched like fresh spaghetti over the next 18 miles. In the 10-12 knot breezes, Luna Rossa was a notch faster, especially downwind.

AmericaOne did not have much hope of passing them on a one-lane highway, eventually losing by 49s.

But even in victory Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis would not admit his boat was faster.

"Sure, we weren't slower. I think the fact that we went up to the ninth race of nine meant the boats were pretty close," he said.

Cayard reckoned that even if the boats trialed together for another two months, there would still be no conclusion on who was swifter.

But Team New Zealand do not agree. They saw superior boatspeed in Luna Rossa.

Prada tactician Torben Grael - undoubtedly one of the best sailors seen in the Cup so far - said the boat showed its potential in yesterday's race.

"We had a good start. They [AmericaOne] had the right, but we were able to get to the right in a good position against them," he said. "We went all the way to the layline without losing to AmericaOne, and from there on we started stretching a little bit. It was a good race, and we played the shifts well."

AmericaOne were last night contemplating where they lost the Louis Vuitton Cup - not in yesterday's race, but in the middle of the series.

The team's Kiwi strategist, Gavin Brady, said race four, when AmericaOne was given a penalty metres from the finish-line, would haunt the crew forever.

"We will always remember that one race," he said. "It was a harsh call, but we broke the rule then and now we are paying the price for it."